2012 AUDI A6 warning

172 Child Safety
The child seats listed in categories A to C
have been statically tested by Audi only for
the Advanced Airbag function.
Important safety instructions for using
child safety seats
Correct use of child safety seats substantially
reduces the risk of injury in an accident!
As the driver, you are responsible for the safe­
ty of everybody in the vehicle, especially chil­
dren:
.. Always use the right child safety seat for
each ch ild and alw ays use it properly
r:::>page 174 .
.. Always carefully follow the child safety seat
manufacturer's instructions on how to route
the safety belt properly through the child
safety seat.
• When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
r:::> page 179.
.. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
s ideways more than one inch (2.5 cm).
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and young ­
er, should always ride in the back seat proper­
ly restrained for their age and size.
.&_ WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in­ stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil­
dren must always be restrained properly
whenever riding in a vehicle.
-
- An unrestrained or improperly restrain­
ed child can be injured or killed by be­
ing thrown against the inside of the ve- hide or by being ejected from it during
a sudden maneuver or impact.
- An unrestrained or improp erly restrain­
ed child is at much greater risk of injury
or death by being struck by an inflating
airbag.
- Commercially available child safety seats
are required to comply with U.S. Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
213 (in Canada CMVSS 213) .
- When buying a child restraint, select
one that fits your child and the vehicle.
- Only use child restraint systems that
fully contact the flat portion of the
seat cushion. The child restraint must
not tip or lean to either side. Audi does
not recommend using child safety
seats that rest on legs or tube-like
frames. They do not provide adequate
contact with the seat.
- Always heed all legal requirements per­
taining to the installation and use of
child safety seats and carefully follow
the instructions provided by the manu­
facturer of the seat you are using.
- Never allow children under 57 inches
(1.45 meters) to wear a normal safety
belt. They must always be restrained by a
proper child restraint system. Otherwise,
they could sustain injuries to the abdo­
men and neck areas during sudden brak­
ing maneuvers or accidents.
- Never let more than one child occupy a child safety seat.
- Never let babies or older children ride in
a vehicle while sitting on the lap of an­
other passenger.
- Holding a child in your arms is never a
substitute for a child restraint system .
- The strongest person could not hold
the child with the forces that exist in
an accident. The child will strike the in­
terior of the vehicle and can also be
struck by the passenger.
- The child and the passenger can also
injure each other in an accident.

-Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat. A child will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the passen­
ger airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-facing child safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat can in­
terfere with the airbag when it inflates
and cause serious injury to the child. Al­
ways install forward-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safety and well-being require that the
following special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
-Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child safety seat or carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat
into the rearmost position of the pas­
senger seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and as far away from the airbag
as possible before installing the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the backrest is
in the upright position .
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is
Child Safety 173
connected to the 12-volt socket or the
cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passen­
ger seat, never install any child re­
straint system on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger
seat cushion .
- Never place objects on the seat (such
as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter). These
may influence the electrical capaci­
tance measured by the capacitive pas­
senger detection system and can also
fly around in an accident and cause se­
rious personal injury.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around
during a sudden stop or in a collision.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­ hicle is being used
¢ page 133, Safety
belts,
¢ page 142, Airbag system and
¢ page 168, Child Safety.
A WARNING ,---
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the child restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer immediate­
ly.
A WARNING ,--
A child in a child restraint installed with
the LATCH lower anchorages or with the •
•

17 4 Child Safety
standard safety belt on the rear seat may
play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become entangled resulting in ser ious per­
sonal injury and even death.
- Always buck le unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of chi ldren in ch ild
seats and properly activate the converti­
ble locking retractor so that the child
cannot unreel the safety belt from the
retractor.
Child safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and 20 lbs . or 9 kg need special rearward-fac­
ing child restraints that support the back ,
neck and head in a crash.
F ig. 154 Schemat ic overv iew: rea rwa rd -facing infa nt
sea t, p roper ly in stalled o n the rear sea t
.. When using the vehicle safety be lt to insta ll
a chi ld safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
c> page 179 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments .
.. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly t ight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
s ideways more than one inch ( 2.5 cm).
I nfants up to about one y ear (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
are best pro tected in special infant carriers
and child safety seats designed for their age
group. Many experts believe that infants and
small children should ride only in special re­
straints in which the child faces the back of the vehicle
. These infant seats support the ba­
by's back, neck and head in a crash¢
fig. 154.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child seat .
It is a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat!
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal anchorages ,
the unused safety belts must be secured so
that the child in the child restraint cannot
reach them .
_&. WARNING
--
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or im prope rly in­
stalling a child restraint incre ases the risk
of ser ious perso nal inju ry and death in a
crash .
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat - even with an Advanced Air­ bag System. A chi ld will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the inflat­ ing airbag hits the child safety seat or in­
fant carrier with great force and smashes
the child safety seat and child against
the backrest , center armrest, doo r or
roof
c> page 144, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing ch ild restra int
in the forward-facing direction. Such re­
s traints are designed for the special
needs of infants and very small ch ildren
a nd cannot protect them properly if the
seat is forward-facing.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptiona l cir cumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF

light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is con­ nected to the 12-volt socket or the ciga­
rette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games de­
vice or power inverter). These may influ­
ence the electrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection
system and can also fly around in an acci­
dent and cause serious personal injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢page 133, Safety
belts,¢ page 142, Airbag system
and
¢ page 168, Important things to know.
_& WARNING
A child in a child restraint installed with
the LATCH lower universal anchorages or
with the standard safety belt on the rear
seat may play with unused rear seat safety
belts and become entangled resulting in
serious personal injury and even death.
- Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of children in chi ld
seats such as by properly routing them
around the head restraint for the seating
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
-
Child Safety 175
- Never activate the switchable locking re­
tractor when routing the safety belts
around the head restraints.
- Never let anyone sit at the center rear
seating position if the center rear safety
belt has been routed around a rear head
restraint.
- A child restrained in the child safety seat
on the rear bench can be fatally injured
when playing with unused lockable safe­
ty belts .
- Always secure unused lockable safety belts on the rear bench.
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9
and 18 kg) in a crash .
Fig. 155 Schemat ic overv iew : installat ion of the at·
tac hments applicable to a LATCH seat
Fig. 156 Schemat ic overview : instal lation of the seat
using the vehicl e's safety be lt system
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking feature on the safety
belt to prevent the child safety seat from
moving ¢
page 179 or install the seat using
the LATCH attachments.
IJ>-

176 Child Safety
• Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm)
¢page 179.
• If the child safety seat is equipped with a
tether strap, attach it to the tether anchors
¢ page 185.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in­
fant restraint if it is more than one year old
and weighs more than
20 lbs. (9 kg).
Toddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about
4 years old and weigh more
than
20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs . (18 kg) must
always be properly restrained in a child safety
seat certified for their size and weight
¢ fig. 155 and ¢fig . 156.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child safe­
ty seat. It is a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat!
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench ,
especially with LATCH universal anchorages,
the unused safety belts must be secured so
that the child in the child restraint cannot
reach them.
A WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in­
stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
collision or other emergency situation .
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri­
ously injured or even killed when an air­
bag inflates. A child in a rearward-facing
child safety seat installed on the front
passenger seat will be seriously injured
and can be killed if the front airbag in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center
arm rest, door or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
c>page 133, Safety
belts,
cc> page 142 , Airbag system and
cc> page 168, Important things to know.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safe ­
ty and well-being require that the follow­
ing special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu­
facturer for use on a front seat with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in­
structions provided with the child safety
seat or infant carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat in­
to the rearmost position of the passen­
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi­
ble before installing the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an
upright position.
-

-Never place or use any electrical devic e
(such as a laptop, CD player, electron ic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat i f the device is con­
nected to the 12-volt sock et or the ciga­
rette lighte r socket .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never ins tall any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquid s on the front passenger seat
c u shion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a la ptop , CD player, elect ronic games de­
vice or power inverter) . These may influ ­
ence the e lectrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detect ion
system and can a lso fly around in an acci­
dent and cause serious personal injury.
- Make sure that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forwa rd -facing child seat
at a seating posit ion on the rear seat and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
au thori zed Audi dealer .
- Take the child rest raint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the re ar seat posi tions if the
PASSEN ­
G ER AIR BAG OFF
light does not s tay on
whenever the ignition is switched on .
A WARNING
A child in a child rest raint insta lled with
the LATCH lower universal anchorages or
w ith the standard safety belt on the rear
seat may play with unused rear seat safety
belts and become entangled resulting in
ser ious personal injury and even death .
- Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of chi ld ren in ch ild
seats such as by properly routing them
-
Child S afety 177
around the head restraint for the seat ing
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
- Never activate the switchable lock ing re­
tractor when routing the safety be lts
around the head restraints.
-A child restrained in the chi ld safety seat
on the rear bench can be fatally injured
when playing with unused lockab le safe­
ty belts.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properl y used boos ter sea ts con help pro tect
children weighing be tween about 40 lb s. and
80 lbs . (1 8 kg and 36 kg) who ore less than 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) toll .
"' ...
"' 0 :i: ;lli
Fig . 1 57 Rea r seat : chil d pr oper ly restr ained in a boo s­
ter seat
The vehicle's s afe ty belt s alone will not fit
most children until they are at lea st 4
ft . 9 in .
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs . (36 kg) . Booster seats raise these chi l­
dren up so tha t the safety belt w ill pass prop­
erly over the stronge r parts of the ir bodies
and the safety be lt can he lp protect them i n a
crash .
"' Do not use the convert ible loc king ret ractor
when using the veh icle's safety be lt to re­
s train a ch ild on a booster seat.
.. Always position the shoulder portion of the
safety belt m idway ov er th e ch ild's sho ulder.
If you must transport an o lder child in a
booster seat on th e fron t passenger seat,
yo u ca n use the sa fety be lt heigh t adjust­
ment to he lp adju st the shoulder portion
properly .

178 Child Saf ety
• Always make sure that the shoulder portion
of the safety belt never r ests against or
across the ch ild's neck .
• Always make sure that the child can proper­
ly wear the lap portion of the belt low across
the thighs or pe lvis and
never over the
stomach or abdomen .
Ch ildren up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs
or 18 kg) are best protected in child safety
seats designed for the ir age and weight . Ex ­
perts say that the skeletal structure, particu­
l arly the pelvis, of these ch ild ren is not fully
developed, and they must not use the vehicle
safety belts without a su itab le child res traint .
It is usually best to put these children in ap­
p rop riate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all app licab le safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
ch ild and reposition bot h the lap and shou lder
pa rts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child's body in the right places. The
routing o f the be lt over t he ch ild's body is very
important for the c hild's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used. Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
C hi ld ren who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 in­
ches/ 1.45 meters) ta ll can generally use the
ve hicle's three point lap and shou lder belts.
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle 's
safety belt a lone to restrain any child, regard­
less of how b ig the child is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pe l­
vic structu re required for the proper f unction
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three po int
l ap and shoulder be lts. The child's safety ab­
solutely req uires that a lap be lt po rtion of the
safety be lt be fastened sn ug ly and as low as
possible around the pelvis . Never le t the lap
be lt portion of the safety belt pass over the
chi ld's stomach or abdomen .
I n a crash, airbags mus t inflate within a b link
of an eye and with considerab le force . In orde r
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air­
bag. A vehicle occ
upant who is out of posit ion and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an inflating airbag. When an occ upant is too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in­
jury .
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that a ll vehicle occupants, especial­
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances, be
properly restrai ned and as far away from the
airbag as possible . By keeping room between
t h e ch ild's body and the front of the passen­
ger compa rtment, the airb ag c an inflate com­
pletely and p rov ide supplementa l protection
in ce rtain frontal collisions .
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos­
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri­
ous persona l injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situat ion. To he lp re ­
duce the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and/or death:
- Always make s ure to posit ion the sho uld­
e r po rtion of the three-point belt over
the middle of child's shoulder.
- Never let the shoulder portion of the belt
rest against o r across t he neck , face,
chin, or throat of the ch ild.
- Always make sure the lap belt portion of
the three-point belt is worn snug and
p asses as low as poss ible across the
chi ld's pelv is. Never let the belt pass over
the soft abdomen .
- Fai lure to properly ro ute safety belts
over a child's body wi ll ca use seve re i nju­
ries in an accident or othe r emergency
situation
c::> page 133.
-The rear side of the booster seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat. Adjust or re­
move the rear seat head restraint if it is
d ifficult to install the child seat with the
head restra int in place
c::> poge 52 . Ins tall ...

the head restraint again immediately o nce the child seat is removed. Dr iving
without h ead restraints or with h ead re­
straints that are not properly adjusted
increases the risk of ser ious or fatal neck
injury dramat ica lly .
- Children on the front seat of any car, even with Advanced A irbags, can be seri­
ous ly injured or even kill ed when an a ir­
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or knee l on any
seat, for e xamp le the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the ca rgo a rea of
your vehicle .
-Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
forwar d, si tting s ideways o r out of posi­
t io n in any way during an acc iden t can be
st ruck by a deploying airbag . This will re­
sul t in se rious personal injury or deat h.
- If you mus t in stall a boos ter seat on the
front passenger seat be cause of e xcep­
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch­ ed on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
<=> page 154, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child rest raint off the front pas ­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave­
hicle is being use d
<=>page 133, Safety
belts, <=> page 1 42, Airbag system
and
<=> page 168, Important things to know.
_& WARNING
A child in a boos te r seat inst alled with t he
standar d safety belt on t he rear sea t may
play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become entangled res ulting in ser ious per­
sonal injury and even death.
Child Sa fet y 1 79
-Always secure unused rear seat sa fety
be lts out of reach of children in child
seats such as by properly rout ing them
around the head restraint for the seat ing
posi tion where the child rest rain t is in­
stalled .
- Never activate the switchable lock ing re ­
tracto r when routing the safety be lts
around the head restraints.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front
passenger can be locked with the convertible locking retractor to properly secure child
safety seats.
T he safety belts eme rgency locking retracto rs
fo r the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety be lt have a co n­
vertib le lo cking ret ractor for child re straints.
T he safety belt m ust be locked so tha t be lt
web bing cannot unree l. The retrac to r can be
activated to lock the safety belt and prevent
the safety be lt webbing from loosening up
during norma l dr iving . A chi ld safety seat can
o nl y be prope rly installed w hen t he safety belt
is locked so that t he ch ild and child safety
seat w ill stay in place .
A lways remember: Even tho ugh your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
c hi ldren, especially those 12 years and young ­
er, sho uld always r ide in the back seat prope r­
l y restrai ned fo r the ir age and size .
A WARNING
Improperly ins talled chi ld safety sea ts in­
crease the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and death in a co llision .
- Always ma ke sure tha t t he safe ty belt re­
tr actor is lo cked w hen in sta lling a child
safety sea t. An unlocke d safety bel t re -
tracto r cannot hold the child safety seat
Ill>
•
•